John Gurney

John R. Gurney (June 13, 1902 — August 6, 1997) was an American bass-baritone who had an active career as an opera, concert, vaudeville, and musical theatre performer from the 1920s through the 1940s. He was a principal artist at the Metropolitan Opera from 1936 through 1945 where he performed a total of 331 times. On the international stage he performed in operas at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro. He is best remembered for creating roles in the world premieres of Walter Damrosch's The Man Without a Country (1937, Colonel Morgan) and Douglas Moore's The Devil and Daniel Webster (1939, Jabez Stone). He recorded the role of Don Basilio in Rossini's The Barber of Seville which was release by RCA Camden in 1957. Gurney's son is the well known racecar driver Dan Gurney.

Born in Jamestown, New York, Gurney was the son of F. W. Gurney; the founder and industrialist of the Gurney Elevator Company. He graduated from Oberlin College’s Conservatory of Music in 1924 and then earned an M.A. from the Harvard Business School before pursuing music studies in Paris with Jean Mauran in the 1920s. At Oberlin he performed in the Oberlin College Quartet, and at Harvard University he was a member of the Harvard Glee Club (HGC). He was mentored by the HGC's director, Archibald Thompson Davison, who encouraged him to pursue a career in opera.